RE-build a Z68 with IRST

S

speedlever

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 29, 2006
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A couple of years ago I built a nice system for a friend:
64Gb Crucial M4 SSD (cache drive with IRST)
1TB Hitachi spinner for Win7 and programs
1TB Samsung spinner for backup
i5-2400 cpu with 16GB ram
Corsair case and 650w psu
Asus P8Z68V (BIOS 0902)
media drive and optical drive, etc.

I've either misplaced or lost my notes on how I built it and many of the links (on the research I did) are no longer available.

The system was very fast and very stable for a good while. But kids got on it playing games, social sites, and who knows what else. The system became slow and I eventually discovered that the SSD had become dissociated for some reason.

I re-associated the SSD but the system became very unstable. It seems my best option is to format and re-install Win7 using the latest BIOS,

My plan is to get the latest mobo BIOS, IRST drivers, and other system drivers; install the new BIOS, make sure it's set to RAID (not AHCI), then format the drive and reinstall Win7 to the HItachi spinner. Then install the chipset drivers and other drivers and then the IRST drivers and re-setup the SSD to cache the Hitachi spinner.

Fortunately, we have the data backed up so I would just like to confirm the process and the order of things.

Does the above sound correct? Have I overlooked anything? I don't need to disconnect the SSD during the initial process, right?

I haven't built a system in a while and appreciate any advice on this rebuild you might offer.

Thanks.
 
I've got to ask even though it's a "smaller" size SSD, why don't you simply install the OS and main programs on that?

Leave everything else on the HDDs. There is no way you're seeing the same benefits as having OS on the SSD + main programs like Outlook (example) vs. this caching solution.

I just took a look at mine which is fairly clean due to having done a clean install few days back. I'm using 43GB and out of that 24GB is taken by BF4. So 19GB for OS + all other various programs I've got there, plenty of room on a 64GB SSD with space remaining for GC to work as needed.

While we're talking about your SSD, just make sure you're running 0309 firmware (in theory the best as it has the smallest access time) but if you're using EFI or Win8 etc, you may want to use 070 (this is what I've had since it came out with no problems). If you happen to update it, make sure you use the CD method (not the Windows installer which can cause more issues than it's worth).
 
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Yes, I already updated it from 0009 to the latest 070h.

Early on, I considered using the SSD as the OS/programs drive. But at the time I built it, SSD prices were still pretty steep. And while the machine is somewhat local, I did not want to be in a position of having to keep a close eye on it and keep moving junk off to keep it from filling up. We all know how many (most?) programs like to store data on the c:\ drive.

Inasmuch as the user frequently installs their own programs, I can't always be there to redirect data storage. So a 64 GB SSD is way too small to be a main drive for OS and programs (and the normal crap that accumulates on a C:\ drive).

Matter of fact, I replaced a 74 Gb spinner on my system with an 80 GB SSD... and now my own Win7/64 system is getting maxed out in spite of my attempts to keep the garbage at bay.

Back to the system under question... I am now considering asking the user if they would consider $200-ish for a 256 GB SSD in lieu of the cache arrangement. I'm torn between a TLC SSD for about $55 less than an MLC SSD of the same capacity.
 
Ah ok, well I assume you're talking about 840 EVO? I haven't read anything bad about it and there's no need to avoid "TLC" per-say, you get enough life out of them and speed-wise you'd not notice anything IMO.
 
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